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71 Cadet Detachment – January to July 2019

Detachment Commander: Lt J Salubi, 4986salub@armymail.mod.uk

The 71 Cadet Detachment London Irish Rifles have had a good 2019 so far and continue to be one of the most recognised and successful detachments within the Army Cadet Force. Our cadets and cadet NCOs achieve great success across training and within the wider cadet community and his ranges from winning prestigious awards to participating within national competitions. We have recently welcomed a large intake into our detachment and we continue to be the biggest cadet unit within South East London now parading around 74 Cadets. Our senior cadets have been a vital asset to other local cadet detachments and have been using their knowledge to assist staff to teach cadets within other areas.

This year has been a particularly great year for our senior cadets, who have been members of the ACF for many years with Cadet Sergeant Pinnock- Marah, Cadet Sergeant Birmingham and Cadet Corporal winning National First Aid competitions. These cadets are the highest-ranking NCOs in 7 Coy and have gone on to oversee the training and development of hundreds of cadets across the coy and Greater South East London ACF. In addition, during the current year, our cadets received many awards and appointments for their hard work while training in the local community, and within the cadet force.

Annual Inspection

Our annual inspection by Major Brown took place on 30th March and he inspected our premises, witnessed lesson being taught and inspected the cadets and he went onto give us a glowing report so we must have impressed him.

First Aid Competition

This year the detachment also participated in the Sector’s first aid competition and were represented in the coy team that won both Junior and Senior categories in front of the other two companies.

Community

Since January, the detachment has participated in the ‘Soldiering On’ Awards, the Carpet Guard for the City of London Solicitors, St Patrick’s Day Parade, World Youth Study Day at Sandhurst, Sector Shooting competition, Frimfest at Frimley, the WASP parade and Beating the Retreat at Horse Guards. The detachment also attended a Career Evening hosted by the City of London Solicitors at Laura Devine Solicitors on 28th May 2019 and were exceptionally well behaved as usual…..

Hong Kong Exchange

Cadet Sgt Pinnock-Marach represented not only 71 Cadet Detachment London Irish Rifles but also the wider Army Cadet Force on cadet exchange in Hong Kong. She had a thrilling time sight seeing and learning so many new things. She also had the opportunity to train and was ultimately an excellent ambassador on the trip

Deputy Lieutenant Awards

Cadet Sergeant Birmingham has been awarded DL certificates for her contribution to the cadet forces. This is a great achievement as not many cadets actually get presented with such a prestigious award.

Athletics

71 Detachment London Irish cadets dominate the Sector’s sports competitions and are proud to be a specialist sports unit. Our cadets continue to proceed through regular training leading towards competitions, always giving us that vital competitive edge.

London Irish Rifle Contribution Award

Cadet Cpl Odujoko was nominated and won the London Irish Rifles Contribution award for her support to cadets representing the LIR and this was presented on the final day of Annual Camp in August.

Annual Camp

Both 71 and 99 Cadet Detachments attended the 2018 Annual Camp at Knook taking 40 cadets in total with 71 accounting for one of the largest numbers to be deployed from a single detachment. Both were highly successful at the camp with many completing their APC star board and the rest making some progress towards completion.

At this year’s camp, London Irish Rifles cadets managed to achieve the following:

1 star passes – 10

2 Star passes – 5

3 Star passes – 1

4 star passes (100% pass rate) – 5

London Irish Rifles cadet of the year – Ayo Odujoko

Most Improved cadet award C Coy – Paige Adesola

Corporal promotion – Ayo Odujoko

Colour Sgt promotion – Roshanda Pinnock-Marah

Some of the cadets on the senior wing also had the pleasure of meeting with Colonel Ian Denison while we were on the field exercise in Salisbury Plain. A more detailed report can be found on the coy twitter page.

In addition, during the same period, a Cadet Force Adult Volunteer has been trained and is currently on her AIS course in Edinburgh. Upon completion, she would be eligible to become a Sergeant Instructor. Our objective for every London Irish Rifles cadet, especially from 71 Cadet Detachment, is to achieve MASTER CADET status and as such the cadets are committed to attending every scheduled training event.

The Detachment’s next outing will be at the Fieldcraft Weekend on 7th/8th September and there is also a CPL cadre event that weekend. The two detachments will both be attending the Loos Day parade at Flodden Road on 22nd September.

Cadet Progression

The Detachment has been able to retain a good portion of their senior cadets and two of these have shown the intention to join the armed forces and perhaps join D Coy as reservists. Another cadet is currently seeking enrolment at the Duke of York Royal Military School.